


Magic and Motorbikes

by BlueFeatherQuill



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-04-11
Updated: 2016-04-11
Packaged: 2018-06-01 15:37:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,803
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6526081
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BlueFeatherQuill/pseuds/BlueFeatherQuill
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>*Incomplete - old work*</p><p>Susie is normal, too normal. That all changes when she meets the guy on the motorbike and his strange friends. They all seem adamant that they know her and that she lives in some kind of fantasy castle together. It couldn't be true. Could it?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Upon a Summer Evening

Ahead of her, the pavement stretched on unbroken, emphasising the distance Suze’s tired feet had yet to travel as they rubbed brutally against the tight insides of her shoes. The soles of her dilapidated trainers were getting thin enough for her to feel the cracked paving slabs beneath her feet, but she knew better than to complain. There was no-one around at the moment to hear her anyway. The row of neat houses lined with tall spruces, tidy front lawns and twitching lace curtains, was empty of people; most of them were lazing in the shadows, waiting for the heat of the day to ebb and for the refreshing chill of dusk to creep slowly over the town so that they could leave their houses and their cars without feeling drained by the summer heat.  
Silence hung complacently in the dry air, it was stifling but reassuring to Suze, she had become so used to it over her holiday that loud noises were becoming a foreign idea, one from a different place, another life. School had ended a long time ago now, so she’d had time to settle into a routine: wake up; have breakfast; get dressed; try to avoid confrontation with mum (often unsuccessfully); either go out or, more often, spend the day in her room; have dinner; read something before bed; sleep.  
This pattern had repeated itself so often now that days and weeks had started to blur into one, like a painting that had had water spilt over its canvas, causing the colours to coalesce until the picture was distorted beyond recognition. Suze found that life for her was really nothing more than just drifting vacuously from day to day.  
Rustling quietly, a few leaves lifted their weary heads from their lazy summer stupor as a gentle breeze drifted fleetingly past, twisting and writhing by, tugging playfully at everything it could reach, including Suze’s hair. It was caught up and thrown about so that its golden colour shimmered in the hot sunlight. Slightly irritated, Suze flicked her head back to return her hair to hanging limply down her back, drumming rhythmically against her thin, lilac shirt. She brought a hand to her tanned forehead and ran it back beneath the edge of her fringe, tucking a stray strand of hair neatly behind one ear.  
During this momentary distraction, Suze had failed to notice the addition of two extra pairs of footsteps that had joined hers and were only a short way back on the opposite side of the road. She heard them now though and she lifted her head. Curious, she allowed herself a surreptitious look over the shoulder to catch a fleeting glimpse at the people behind her.  
The sight of those two people elicited a strange reaction from her, one that she couldn’t quite explain. Her heart beat faster and her strides lengthened, putting as much distance between her and them as she could.  
They looked to be perfectly normal people, perhaps a few years older than herself. True, they were both wearing strangely old fashioned clothing, but you saw all sorts of dress sense these days. The man, taller than his companion, had straight blonde hair tied back in a ponytail, hair far paler than Suze’s. On anyone else this might look angelic but this person was different, his face had a harsh quality, all straight lines and sharp corners, which gave him an air of unpleasantness.  
Accompanying him was a girl, possibly slightly younger than her friend, but still a few years older than Suze. She had a huge mass of dark curls piled atop an almost babyish, heart shaped face. Together, they made an imposing pair, but they both seemed to be minding their own business, conversing quietly with each other as they walked down their side of the street. Yet some gut feeling deep down inside, told Suze that there was something wrong about them being here.  
Allowing a slight frown to grace her features, Suze subconsciously shifted slightly away from the road. She stuck her hand in her pockets where they clenched into fists, as if searching for something reassuring to close around. Her eyes darted around, examining her surroundings closer for any trace of alternate routes she could take and her ears worked on overtime, straining to make out some of the conversation the couple were whispering to each other. Unfortunately, Suze was now nearing a slightly busier section of road, and the only sound she could make out was the noisy rumblings of traffic, vehicles driving past and a motorbike revving impatiently at the lights at the crossroads ahead, willing them to change.  
She kept walking, keeping her eyes steadfastly on the pavement in front of her, watching the scuffed toes of her trainers take one step after another. The main road was closer now and the noise from the crossroads louder, so Suze allowed herself another quick glance at her new company. Whatever distance Suze had covered, they had doubled it, because they were now almost drawing level with her. Somehow they must have crept up while Suze wasn’t looking.  
As Suze was glancing agitatedly behind her, the motorbike which had been making so much noise earlier on was finally given the green light and barrelled round the corner.  
In the split second before the bike drew level with her, Suze noted that the boy riding it was roughly her age with a mop of shaggy black hair that fluttered gracefully out behind him as it was caught up in the wind. Just as she was eyeing the dirt on his faded red hoodie she felt a jerk round her waist and suddenly she was able to see just how unwashed it was as her nose was practically buried in it.  
“What the-!“ She jerked her head back quickly but tightened her arms around the boy to stop herself slipping off the back of the bike.  
She watched in shock as they passed the couple that had been following her and the boy made a very rude gesture before noticing the look of complete and utter loathing he received in return. She could feel his chest vibrating as the boy laugh loudly and sped round the next corner far faster than he should have been going.  
“Stop!” she shrieked but she might as well have been yelling at a hurricane for all the good it did. The boy just ignored her and sped up even more. After driving down five more roads, making Suze hopelessly lost as she’d kept her eyes tight shut the whole time, the bike finally began to slow down and parked by the side of the road. As soon as she was sure the bike had stopped moving Suze released her grip on the boys’ disgusting hoody and jumped off the back of the bike.  
“What the hell was all that!” She asked angrily as he slid lazily off the bike.  
“In case you didn’t notice, my dear, you were being followed by a couple of Death Eaters.” He replied nonchalantly, he sounded as though he actually expected her to know what he was talking about.  
“Death Eaters!” She exploded “What in god’s name are Death Eaters! Actually, no, first, tell me who the hell you are!” She jabbed him hard on the chest but he just grinned irritatingly back at her.  
“Oh come on now Suze, nice try.”  
“Nice try!” She still wasn’t calming down. “Now look here mister, I don’t know if you registered this but you just came riding down the street and shoved me onto the back of your bike! If you don’t give me some answers right now I’m going to find the nearest police officer and have him arrest you for kidnap!”  
The boy’s face scrunched into a confused frown.  
“Suze, what are you on about? You know me. We’ve been best friends for six years. We’re in the same class at school! Come on Suze this isn’t funny.”  
“What are you talking about? I go to an all girls school,” she replied simply. “And I’ve never seen you before in my life.” Eyebrow raised she gave the boy a questioning glare. This guy was either mistaking her for someone else or seriously messed up.  
“Suze, please, you’ve got to remember me?” He looked slightly desperate, Suze almost felt sorry for him. Almost.  
“You must have got the wrong girl.” She said coolly.  
“Not unless you’ve got an identical twin sister who’s also called Susannah Wrenn.”  
How could he know her name? It’s not like she was well known, she only had a couple of so-called friends and even her teachers had trouble getting her name right sometimes.  
“Look, I don’t know how you know my name and this is starting to get really creepy, so I think I’ll just go now. Please don’t follow me or I really will call the police.”  
“Wait.” He called after her.  
“No.” She turned and began to walk down the street. She had almost reached the corner when the boy caught up with her again. He had taken something out of his pocket and waved it in front of her face.  
“You may not believe me, but you can’t deny the evidence of your eyes.”  
It was a photograph. The edges were slightly worn and it had been folded over so that there were crease marks running across it, but the picture was still perfectly visible. There were five people sitting under a large beech tree in the middle of a grassy field. Just behind the tree was a large glassy lake and Suze could have sworn that the water was actually rippling. But Suze wasn’t interested in the backdrop. She concentrated on the five people in the foreground. They were all wearing some kind of uniform, white shirts with red and yellow ties, and all of them were displaying the kind of smiles only children can create, huge and full of a joy that was for some reason unattainable after you reach a certain age.  
The first person she noticed was the motorbike boy. Glossy black hair rippled smoothly around his grinning face, as he sat playfully punching the arm of the boy next to him. This other boy’s most notable feature were his glasses, they accentuated his hazel eyes which were grinning along with his mouth. On the opposite side of this little group, to the far right, was a short blonde boy with large blue eyes. He wasn’t as toned as the rest of the boys, but his smile was as wide as any of theirs, for some reason though, the sight of him, made the hairs on the back of her neck stand up. Sitting to the left of the short boy was another figure. He was thin and lanky, with sandy-blonde hair that fell across his face, hiding it from view. He was obviously shy although Suze could see no reason for it, he was just as good looking as the rest of them, his eyes an intriguing amber colour that looked like liquid caramel.  
However, the figure that shocked Suze the most was the one right in the middle, grinning out of the photo like she’d just won a million pounds. The photo couldn’t have been taken that long ago, possibly only a few months, but Suze couldn’t see how that was possible, because the figure, right in the midst of this group of boys was her.  
There was no mistaking it, her grey eyes, shone as brightly as any of theirs, her golden blonde hair pulled back from her face in a tight ponytail though her fringe still rested on her forehead.  
It was obvious, that somehow, she must know these guys, because she had her arm around the motorbike boy’s shoulder and was ruffling the sandy hair of the shy boy. But this picture brought no memory to mind, she had no idea where it had been taken.  
She looked up at the boy standing in front of her, confusion flitting across her face.  
“How…?” she trailed off, shaking her head. “It doesn’t matter. I really don’t know you. I’m sorry.” And this time, he let her walk away.  
It didn’t take long for her to find her way back to familiar streets and only a few minutes after that she was home, shrugging off her coat and hanging it up by the stairs. All the way back, her mind had been running over and over what had just happened in her head, trying to come up with a rational explanation for any of it. She had found nothing, it was completely inexplicable, and her mind just kept going in endless circles. Now though, she walked through to the living room where she found her mother ironing in front of some trashy game show. Suze collapsed down onto the squishy off-white sofa and stuck her feet on the coffee table so that they caught some of the heat form the electric heater on the other side.  
“How was your walk sweetie?” Her mother asked, eyes still not leaving the grainy picture on the television screen.  
“It was fine mum.” Suze replied dully, shutting her eyes and attempting to signal that she didn’t want to talk anymore.  
“Did you meet anyone down in the park?”  
Suze sighed inwardly. That was all she needed, the third degree from her mother, requesting to know exactly who she had met, how long they’d talked together and if she thought they would meet again. Suze decided that the motorbike boy wasn’t something she was going to share. It would just lead to more exhausting questions. And anyway, Suze felt that this was private somehow.  
“No mum, I just sat around for an hour watching the little kids play on climbing frame.”  
“Well at least it got you out the house.” Her mother said, still not really paying Suze much attention. “I’ve always said you spend far too much time cooped up in that room of yours. You just sulk all day, and you never go out with your friends.”  
Because I don’t have any, Suze thought, rolling her eyes and heaving herself up from the sofa. It was obvious that despite the fact that the living room had the heater, she was going to have to relocate to her bedroom if she wanted any semblance of peace.  
“I know mum. I’m just going to read a bit okay?” She said, not waiting for an answer as she left the room, walked past the old mahogany staircase which lead upstairs to her mother’s room and the study, and turned right, going past the bathroom door, down a narrow corridor lined with endless bookshelves and opened the door to her small room, shoved right on the end of the house with one wall adjoining to the living room through which she could still hear the plastic tones of a game show host reading out some trivia.  
“I want you to help with dinner in an hour or so!” Her mother yelled, only just realising her daughter had left the room.  
Since the death of her husband, Mrs Wrenn, or Betty, as her friends called her, had become more and more short-tempered and scatty. The stress of bringing up a teenage daughter whilst also trying to find a way to bring in enough money for the both of them was obviously getting the better of her, and lately the only conversations she was able to have with said daughter were heated arguments over stupid little things like whose turn it was to put the bins out.  
Of course Suze wasn’t making it easy for her mother, she wasn’t being particularly useful about the house or being active and busy, but she wasn’t exactly being badly behaved either. Most of the time since her father’s death, she had spent in her room. She had been moping and thinking about her dad. She thought that her grief was excuse enough for her slightly anti-social behaviour.  
Inside her bedroom the summer heat from outside was merely a memory. The room was cool, the only window backing onto a cramped alleyway between her house and next door, meaning that sunlight could never reach the room to warm it up. Suze quickly grabbed a blanket from the top of her bed and wrapped it around her shoulders, holding it tight with her left hand, as the other searched the shelf in front of her for a book. Finally, picking one at random, she crawled onto her bed and curled up in the corner, her head resting right at the intersection of the two walls.  
The book was her father’s, most of them were. Her dad, like her, had had a penchant for the written word. Her mother used to say he spent so much time reading that he smelt of books, all old and musty, with the promise of exciting fairy tales and hidden secrets. He’d just laugh it off and say that must make him the nicest smelling man in the world. Suze missed her father. He’d only died recently. She remembered him as he should be remembered, happy and laughing and alive.  
For the rest of that evening Suze read through her father’s books, savouring them as though each page contained a tiny part of her father’s presence. She told herself that if she read them all, then maybe she’d finally have him back. She knew it might take years, but she could wait, and read.  
Finally her mother remembered dinner, and Suze was torn from her imaginings and brought back to the real world, her real life, and the gradually fading mystery of the boy on the motorbike.  
“Suze! Come and help!” Her mother called from the kitchen.  
Pulling off her makeshift blanket, Suze carefully marked her place with a piece of string from her pocket and padded along the corridor past the bathroom and the front hall, and into the kitchen.  
This was always the sunniest room in the house. When they moved in, her father had complained of how dark it was, even with the large windows to let in the light. Later that day, he’d gone out and when he returned he brought with him a huge can of pale yellow paint.  
“look what it’s called Suze,” he’d grinned at her, pointing at the label on the front. “Wild Primrose - your favourite flower.”  
She was only about three at the time so she giggled and clapped her hands together, jumping about with little three-year-old glee.  
They spent the rest of the afternoon painting the kitchen. Everyone got messy, even her mother joined in, tying her hair back in a ponytail and splattering paint all over herself. They were happy then, a happy family.  
Now, fourteen years later the paint had cracked and was beginning to peel, but neither her or her mother could bear the thought of having to repaint it without her father there.  
The middle of the kitchen was filled with a large island which her mother used as a surface to prepare food on, behind it was a wide bay window and an old blue stove, covered in years’ worth of family meals and baking accidents. Down the left hand wall were three large floor to ceiling cupboards, each one about a metre wide and two metres tall. The first one was full of crockery and cleaning products, the next filled with food and the final one, closest to the window, contained cooking implements and recipe books. To the right of the door was a sink, another smaller cupboard and a washing machine.  
“The potatoes need peeling.” Mrs Wrenn said; her back to her daughter as she fussed about with pots over the stove.  
Suze said nothing as she pulled the peeler out of a draw by the sink and made a start at the potatoes that were soaking in a basin of water.  
In the corner the tiny little portable radio was crackling away, an announcer was just introducing the news as the signal wavered and fuzzed.  
“Good evening, this is the seven o’clock news.  
Three more mysterious deaths have been reported. The Reynolds family in Upper Woodsall were found dead this afternoon. No sign of any internal or external injuries could be found on any of the bodies, although their faces were reportedly contorted into expressions of terror. Doctors so far have been baffled as to the cause of death.”  
Her mother paused as she stirred a pot full of sauce.  
“That’s the seventh case like that they’ve found in three months.” She frowned. “If you ask me it must be some new type of poison, something that can stop the heart” Suze shook her head.  
“If it were poison, the doctors would be able to find traces of it in the victim's’ blood or in their stomachs or something. This is something else.”  
Mrs Wrenn shot her daughter an indignant look.  
“Of course, how stupid of me, I’ll just shut up and let the experts like you do the theorising shall I?” With a huff she returned to her pots.  
Suze sighed and picked up another potato.


	2. A Fish and a Dog

Over the next few days, Suze thought less and less of the boy. She didn’t see him again, so in the end she decided just to forget about it. Of course forgetting is easier said than done, so Suze tried to occupy herself. She went out more, going to the park with a book, or into town where she would peer through shop windows and imagine all the luxuries she’d buy if she had the money. If it also meant she was out of the house while her mother had temper tantrums, then it was even better. It was certainly not because she thought there would be more chance of finding him again in town. Absolutely not, she was completely not interested, not bothered, and not curious. Or at least that was what she told herself  
It was a few days after her encounter on the motorbike that Suze went down to the fish and chip shop for lunch. Her mother was at work that day and had forgotten to buy more food so Suze was forced to forage for some pocket money to buy herself something to eat. Seeing as fish and chips was the cheapest (and tastiest) option, she decided to spend her money there. She made her way through the streets, vaguely taking in some of the objects for sale in the windows of shops, but mainly she kept her head ducked and her hands tucked in her pockets.  
Suze bought her fish and chips quickly. There wasn’t much of a queue, it being a Monday and all, so she managed to get her order in without too much of a wait. She paid £5, took the warm packet of greasy newspaper and picked up a little wooden chip fork on her way out.  
The main street was reasonably busy, it wasn’t over full, but there were enough people walking around for Suze not to notice the large mass of scruffy red hoody before it was too late.  
“Mind yourself.” Came a familiar voice as two tanned arms reached out to stop her from toppling backwards. She had been so engrossed in eating her meal of chips she hadn’t really been looking where she was going. Now she had salt and vinegar smears down the front of her t-shirt and had lost a few precious chips to the grubby street floor. She looked up to see the laughing grey eyes of the boy with the bike.  
“Sorry,” she murmured back before sighing exasperatedly and attempting, futilely, to rub some of the stain off her top.  
“Clumsy as ever I see Suze.”  
Another boy had stepped up from behind the first. He was one of the boys from the picture, the one with the glasses. He was smiling at her.  
“Um….” She wasn’t really sure how to respond, this guy acted like he’d known her for half his life, but Suze was sure she’d never seen him before.  
“See James,” the boy with the bike said shaking his head, “she really doesn’t remember.”  
‘James’ seemed to frown at this. “You sure this isn’t just another one of her pranks Sirius?”  
“She’s never gone this far before, she’d know it wasn’t funny anymore.” Suze just crumpled her face up in confusion.  
“She is right here thank you very much.” Suze said, irritated. She elbowed her way past the pair of them and forced herself to not look over her shoulder till she turned the next corner. She did her best to not be disappointed that they hadn’t followed her. Behind her she could see only everyday people going shopping or looking for a bite to eat, there was no sight of the two boys: Sirius and James.  
Sirius - how fitting that such a mysterious boy should have such a mysterious name, she wondered what his last name was…  
Stop it, stop obsessing over him! She berated herself. He was just some strange boy with friends who thought that playing some kind of stupid mind game on random girls was funny.  
By now she had made her way through the edge of town and began to make her way to the park, she’d prefer to eat her lunch there than sit alone at the kitchen table in her empty house. She walked a little way up the grassy hill before dropping down onto a nearby bench and digging into her still slightly warm packet of greasy fish and chips.  
The chips were lovely, soft and salty with lots of vinegar splashed all over them. The fish wasn’t so good, the batter was slightly overdone, and she ended up leaving most of it. Just as she was going to get up and find a bin to dump the remainder of her lunch in Suze noticed the approach of a large black dog. Its coat was shaggy but glossy and it gave out a welcoming bark as it trotted over, his grey eyes shining. He plonked himself on the ground next to Suze and licked the salt off her fingers sniffing at the remnants of her lunch, then looked pleadingly up at her, with big round puppy-dog eyes.  
It only took a few seconds for Suze to succumb and she dropped some battered fish on the floor next to the dog. He yelped happily and scooped it up in one bite, his nose instantly in the air for more. Suze smiled and placed the packet of fish down for the dog to nose around, then stood up, wiped her fingers on the back of her jeans and began to make her way back home.  
She’d walked a few paces when she realised that the dog was following her, the fish held in his mouth as he padded faithfully along in her footsteps. She groaned inwardly, this was the last thing she needed, if her mum came home to find Suze had brought back a dog she could only imagine the sort of reaction it would elicit.  
“Shoo!” She said gesturing back towards the trees at the edge of the park. The dog cocked its head in that endearingly cute way dogs do, and just stared blankly at her.  
“Go on!” She repeated “Shoo!” She nudged the dog half-heartedly with her foot, but he just barked again and trotted closer to her side. Suze sighed and searched around for something to throw, eventually she found a suitable stick, large enough to be interesting to the dog, she held it in the air in front of his face and waggled it about a bit.  
“See the stick? See the stick boy?” The dog was frantically following the path of the broken branch with its head, jerking about this way and that, ears twitching amusedly.  
Suze mustered up as much strength as she could and threw the stick down the hill as far away as possible. The dog bounded after it instantly, the fish lying forgotten at Suze’s feet. Suze took her chance and ran for it, making her way out the park and down onto the street, she allowed herself to slow back down to a walk as she rounded the corner onto her drive, pulling the keys from her pocket and slotting them noisily into the keyhole.  
Over the sound of jangling keys, Suze heard something else, there was a sharp delighted bark and the skittering of excited paws on the pavement before the rugged black dog came leaping down her drive, it skidded to a stop on her doormat, dropping the soggy stick at her feet and gazing proudly up at his new friend.  
“For gods sakes why can’t you just go home?” Suze moaned as she kicked the stick away from the door. The dog barked in reply and continued to sit on her front step panting merrily away. She opened the door to her house, just wide enough to let herself squeeze through and then shut it quickly behind her. There was a frantic scrabbling at the door as the dog realised his playmate had gone inside, this was accompanied by a pitiable whining sound the tore at Suze’s heart-strings, but she stayed firm. No dogs in the house. She occupied herself with about an hour of reading before tidying the house up in preparation for her mother’s return from work.  
At about 6 o’clock she heard the sound of footsteps down the drive, they just reached the steps when-  
“Ahhh!”  
“Woof!”  
“Susannah Wrenn, what the hell is a dog doing on our front porch!”  
Suze walked through to the hallway and looked guiltily at the scene before her, there was her mother glaring daggers as the playful mutt jumped obliviously about moulting hairs all over their new hall carpet.  
“He um… must have followed me home. Sorry mum.”  
“Did you feed him?”  
“Maybe a little.” Suze fixed her eyes on her bare feet, not daring to look up at her mother.  
“You idiot! I always told you, feeding a stray will just make him follow you home! But I’m just your mother, why would I give decent advice?” Sarcasm was her mother’s weapon of choice, and she was very practiced at using it whenever the opportunity arose.  
“Does he have a collar?”  
Suze shrugged.  
“Well check then!” Her mother snapped before stepping around his furry body and putting her coat up on the coat rack. She slipped off her shoes and went through into the kitchen.  
“You’re going to have to deal with him Suze.” She called behind her. “I’ve already got enough to do.” She then continued to make a huge fuss over cooking dinner.  
Suze sighed and looked down at the excited dog by her feet.  
“I guess it’s you and me against the bat.” She muttered, before crouching down on her knees to check his neck for a collar. There was one and it looked expensive, red leather with a small circular silver disc. There was just one word printed in loopy cursive on the front. ‘Padfoot.’  
“I guess that’s your name then huh, Padfoot?”  
The dog barked happily in reply.  
“Shame your owner didn’t think to put their address on your tag.” She said leading him through into the kitchen and then out through the back door. She found an old plant dish and filled it up with water and placed it in front of Padfoot before going back inside and raiding the fridge for some meat. After making sure the dog had eaten she went back inside to find her mother waiting in stony silence in the kitchen, arms crossed across her chest.  
“I want that dog gone by the end of the week.”  
“Okay.”  
“It’s your fault he’s here in the first place so I expect you to get rid of him.”  
“Sure.”  
“We can’t afford to have him eating up our food.”  
“Alright, mum, I get it!” She cried angrily, eyes glaring angrily at her mother. “Geez, it’s just a dog.” Suze muttered before pushing past her mother and stomping to her room. Betty watched her go, wishing once again that she knew how to stop the part of her that endlessly lashed out at her daughter.  
In her room, Suze went and sat on the windowsill, absentmindedly toying with the dreamcatcher in her window as her mind boiled with anger at her mother.  
No matter what I do, she’s angry! Suze fumed. I might as well just not be here at all! She brought her knees up to her chin and began to replay the conversation in her head, her mother’s harsh words ringing out again and again.  
I want that dog gone.  
Suze angrily picked off a fleck of peeling white paint from the window pane.  
We can’t afford it.  
Another white flake fluttered to the floor.  
It’s your fault.  
Suze brought her nail viciously down on the painted wood and gouged a long scratch mark down the length of the pane.  
Surprised at herself Suze ran a finger along the newly exposed wood. Rough grain met her smooth fingertips until a sharp stab of pain in her finger made Suze flinch. Gingerly, she brought her finger to her mouth and sucked at it to remove the splinter that was now lodged in her skin.  
She rested her head against the cool glass of the window, staring blankly at the ground outside, lost in her own thoughts, barely registering the sounds of her mother cooking in the kitchen.  
Just then, the muted sound of pawsteps carried through the window and Suze turned to press her forehead against the glass, watching with a weary smile as Padfoot sat himself below her window and whined plaintively at her.  
Quietly, Suze pulled open the latch on her window and shuffled so that her legs were dangling down outside, her toes curling in the cool evening air. The window was quite low, so Suze’s feet were only dangling a few inches of the ground.  
Padfoot gave a hushed bark and lifted himself up on his hind legs in order to rest his warm scruffy head on Suze’s lap.  
Soft black curls of fur tickled against her skin as she stroked his head and scratched behind his ears. The dog let out a sniff to show his approval and snuggled his head even closer.  
“You’re pretty much all I’ve got now Padfoot.” Suze whispered softly.  
She sat there with dog on her lap, the air around her getting cooler with the sinking of the sun, until she could hear the chink of her mother setting out cutlery in the dining room.  
With a reluctant sigh she shifted Padfoot’s head off her lap and twisted round so that her feet were back on the window ledge.  
“I’ve got to go for dinner now Pads.” She said to the dog who looked for all the world as though he could understand every word she said as he sat there listening intently, head cocked to one side. “I’ll see you tomorrow morning.”  
She shut the window carefully and twisted the latch closed. Jumping the short distance to the floor she turned round to see that Padfoot was still waiting outside, watching her go, an unfathomable expression on his doggy face. After a seconds pause, she gave into her rumbling stomach and traipsed through to the dining room, opposite the kitchen.  
Steaming food was already laid out carefully on placemats, her mother was sitting at the farthest side of the small square table. She didn’t look up as Suze made her way in and sat down at her place, just continued to fork mashed potato into her mouth.  
The pair ate their dinner in unrelenting silence. The only noise the scraping of cutlery and the quiet squelch of mash being moved around plates.  
This pointed lack of noise continued even after dinner when Suze went to wash up the plates. Her mother left the room without a word after depositing the last of the cutlery by the sink. Leaving Suze to seethe some more of how much she hated her mother.  
After she had completed the dreary task of washing and drying everything from the pans to the knives and forks Suze dried off her chapped hands and went straight through to her bedroom. Opening the window, she called out for Padfoot, but no reassuring skit of dog paws over concrete reached her ears, and after a couple of minutes, Suze was forced to conclude that Padfoot had gone.  
Ah well, she sighed mentally as she shut the window and closed the curtains to keep out the cold. Maybe he’ll be back tomorrow.  
***  
What Suze didn’t know of course was that Padfoot was at that moment walking down her street towards the park where he’d met her earlier that day. Although of course it wasn’t the first time he’d met her. As he neared the park gate, the dog trotted over to a load of bushes growing beside the pavement. Seconds later, a boy walked out, a boy with long black hair and tanned skin. The dog had disappeared.  
James was waiting in the park as Sirius strolled towards him, hands in his pockets and head bowed in deep thought.  
Suze really wasn’t faking. She couldn’t remember any of it, six whole years of her life and not one memory to show for it. How could that have happened?  
“Well then mate, find out anything useful?” James asked as he spotted his friend.  
Sirius sighed. “Not a lot. She wouldn’t let me in the house. I’m not surprised really after her mum’s reaction to me sitting on the doorstep.”  
“What Mrs Wrenn? She was really nice to us last time we were here.”  
“Yeah, I know, she made us lemonade and everything. But she’s obviously in a really foul mood at the moment because she threw a fit when she saw me sitting on her doorstep.”  
“Maybe she’s not taking Mr Wrenn’s death very well. I know if that were my dad my mum would be inconsolable.”  
“That was the weird thing. She didn’t seem upset at all, just pissed off.  
James shrugged. “I don’t know mate. I only ever met her a couple of times, when we were visiting Suze. Maybe she just gets angry when she’s upset. That’s not really our priority.”  
“You’re right. So what do you think we should do? Tell your parents? Or will they just shrug it off?”  
“I’m sure we can get them to listen. They knew Suze’s dad, he was in the order and they like Suze a lot.”  
With a nod, Sirius took off down the park, James following along behind and in a few minutes the park was silent once again.


	3. From Dreams to Nightmares

Suze woke up early next morning. She’d been having a dream, one of those irritating ones that disappeared as soon as you tried to remember them. She lay staring up at the ceiling for a few seconds, grasping at memories that slipped away like a fish who doesn’t want to be caught.  
Reluctantly, Suze pulled back the covers, shivering slightly in the chill of the early morning. She snatched up a pair of jeans and a t-shirt from the chair by her bed and pulled them on.  
Quietly, she trudged through into the kitchen where she poured herself a bowl of cheerios and ate it standing beside the counter. She couldn’t be bothered to go and sit down at the dining room table. Dumping the bowl in the sink she opened the back door and peered about outside.  
“Padfoot?” She called out to the garden. “Padfoot, are you there boy?” There was no answer. The only noise coming from the chirping of the birds and the occasional car driving by along the road.  
With a sigh she shut the door on the chill morning air and returned to her bedroom. So the dog had gone, she wouldn’t have been allowed to keep it anyway. So why was she so disappointed?  
As she passed the staircase, her mother called down the stairs.  
“Suze?”  
“Yes mum?”  
“Have you seen your father’s journal?”  
“Have I seen dad’s what?”  
“His journal. You know, the one he used to write down all his ideas in?”  
“No, I didn’t know he had a journal.”  
Her mum was now out on the landing and making her way downstairs. “Of course you do, you must have seen him writing in it every now and again. Remember, every day, after he got back from work, he’d sit down and start writing all the ideas he had during the day?”  
Suze tried to remember. Now that her mum mentioned it, she thought she did remember something about a book…  
“I think, maybe… I might have seen him write in it a couple of times, but the memory’s fuzzy.” Suze said frowning.  
“Keep trying to remember dear. Where did he put it? It’s important.” Betty Wrenn was standing right next to her daughter now, staring straight at her.  
Suze moved unconsciously back a step.  
“He… he was standing here, by the steps. He’d just got back from work.” The picture was becoming clearer in her mind now and she could almost see her father’s weary smile as he saw his daughter waiting for him. “He took out the book and scribbled something in it then he…”  
“Yes?”  
“He hugged me, said hello and asked what was for dinner.”  
“But what did he do with the book?” Her mum said almost impatiently.  
He just left in his hand, then later when he was hanging his coat up…” Suze looked over to where the coats hung, on the wall by the stairs, opposite the bathroom. Her mother did too and walked over to put her hand against the wall, feeling about.  
“He hid it over here did he? Where, behind the wall?”  
“Why do you want to know anyway?” Suze asked.  
“He left me something in it.” Her mum replied. “I want it back.”  
Suze walked slowly over the wall and felt about behind the coats. She found the coat hook and grasped it in her hands before pulling gently. The hook shifted and a section of wall opened up. She could remember perfectly now, her father had shown her his special hiding place. He had said something to her as well, although she couldn’t quite remember what it was.  
Suze reached her hand into the tiny gap left in the wall and pulled out a small black, leather book, it still smelt of her father. Suddenly, she remembered.  
“Suze, whatever happens, tell no-one about this book, not even your mother. No-one can know. Promise to keep it safe for me?”  
Her mother was reaching out for the book now, about to take it from her.  
“No.” Suze said suddenly, pulling the book back from her mother’s reach. “Dad told me to look after it.”  
“You can sweetie, just after I take a quick look.”  
Something was wrong here. How did her mum know? Her father had specifically said her mother wasn’t to know, if he hadn’t told her mother, then who had? Suze backed up towards the kitchen.  
“Give me the book Suze.”  
“No.”  
“Do as you’re told!”  
“I am. Dad told me to keep it safe.”  
“And I’m telling you to give it to me.”  
“No.” Suze said again. They were in the kitchen now, and Suze was backed up against the kitchen unit.  
“Fine then. Her mother said with a cold smile. “I’ll just have to take it from you.” Suze’s eyes widened. What was going on? Her mother stood in front of her and reached into the folds of her jacket, producing a thin wooden stick. Suze frowned.  
“What’re you gonna do with that? Poke me?”  
“Why don’t you find out?” Her mum said.  
“I’ll pass.” Suze said and lunged for the back door. She ran straight through the garden and jumped over the low fence into the alleyway between their house and next door. She could hear footsteps close behind her so she carried on past her bedroom window and out onto the street. Without pausing to think about where she was going she ran right, towards the park.  
A quick glance backwards showed that her mum had just followed her out the alleyway and was hot on her tail, the strange stick still in one hand.  
“Give it back Suze!” She called out. But Suze ignored her and carried on running. She reached the gate into the park and dashed straight through it. The park was almost empty due to the early hour. It had only just gone seven thirty. There were a couple of people, but most of them were far off down the other end of the field. Suze was starting tire out now, she’d only just realised she wasn’t wearing any shoes, and her feet were beginning to hurt.  
Stopping by a tree, Suze turned to see if her mother was still following her. There was no sign of her anywhere. Suze let out a sigh of relief and collapsed by the tree trunk, her dad’s book still in one hand.  
There was a shout from close by, someone else in the park.  
“Suze!” Suze’s head snapped up, she whipped round to look for the source of the voice. There was the boy with the bike, Sirius, and his friend James. They were running towards her.  
Suze stood up, waiting for them to get closer before she talked to them. But before she could even blink, she could feel a hand on her shoulder. Suze turned immediately to see her mother staring down at her.  
“You’re coming with me sweetie.” She said, before twisting on the spot and disappearing, taking Suze with her.  
***  
“Suze,” Sirius yelled again, as he saw her mother step up behind her “We need to tal-” He stopped as he realised she had gone. Where Suze and Mrs Wrenn had been standing only seconds before was now nothing but thin air.  
“James, did you see that?” Sirius said, turning to his friend. James was standing there staring at the point where the two females had vanished.  
“Yeah, I saw it.” He replied slowly, turning to face Sirius.  
“But I thought Mrs Wrenn…”  
“Was a muggle? Yeah, so did I.”  
The pair were silent for a heartbeat as they tried to comprehend what they’d just seen.  
“So either Mrs Wrenn learned magic really quickly or…”  
“Or that wasn’t Mrs Wrenn.” James finished.  
The two boys exchanged a look then turned and ran back through the park, completely ignoring the angry shouts as they knocked a boy off his bike.  
“Who do you think would want to kidnap Suze?


End file.
